SuzukiSavage.com - Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue

GatorSavage

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Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue
06/09/20 at 08:51:46

Hello everyone! First post on these forums so please go easy on me Grin

I have been having a starting issue that is confusing me so much. At first it wasn’t too much of an issue, and happened maybe 10% starts, but it has been slowly getting worse the last couple of months, and now happens about 60-70% of the time and is a major inconvenience. So I figured I would ask the forums on the chance someone has had the same problem in the past/ knows a solution.

The main issue is getting the starter to start turning. Once it does the bike starts every time.

I turn the bike on, the headlight and everything are working as they should. I click the start button, I hear and see the decompression cable move and click, the headlight goes off, but the starter is not even trying to start the bike. Not anything like the starter is turning over slowly or anything, nothing at all. I press the starter and hold it for a second or two a couple times, sometimes 2-3 times, sometimes 20 before it starts, and sometimes it starts on the first try no problem at all. Once the starter begins cranking it starts well.

Current troubleshooting: Battery reads 12.8v after I have let it sit for an hour or two after a ride so I think the battery is fine, (is that too high compared where it is supposed to be at 12.6v?). The battery terminals/ cables had a little corrosion on them which I tried cleaning off, not sure that had any affect. After it doesn’t start a couple of times, I have tried rocking the bike forward/backwards while in gear to move the position of the piston in the cylinder, sometimes it starts after that sometimes it does nothing. I have tried having the carburetor choke in/out, and fuel petcock on on/prime but it does not seem to affect it.

About the bike/me- Bike is a 2007 that I bought at 7k miles 6 months ago, currently at 10.5k miles. The bike runs well once it starts (if it starts 😊). I have an intermediate knowledge of bikes/fixing things
Mods- Jardine Exhaust, Led headlight and taillight (Varslavy cam chain tension happening soon)

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ZSteele

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Re: Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue
Reply #1 - 06/09/20 at 09:29:53

Sounds exactly like my wife's bike when we first got it. Decomp is firing but the starter solenoid might not be. When you press the start button and it doesn't turn the starter over do you hear a click like the decomp coming from under the seat? If not you might try just replacing the starter solenoid. I think my replacement part was 10 or 15 and works great.

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SavageMan99 Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 391	Re: Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue Reply #2 - 06/09/20 at 09:41:45 Starter solenoid. Clean the hookups or replace it
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GatorSavage

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Re: Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue
Reply #3 - 06/09/20 at 12:54:58

ZSteele wrote on 06/09/20 at 09:29:53:

Sounds exactly like my wife's bike when we first got it. Decomp is firing but the starter solenoid might not be. When you press the start button and it doesn't turn the starter over do you hear a click like the decomp coming from under the seat? If not you might try just replacing the starter solenoid. I think my replacement part was 10 or 15 and works great.

Thanks for this! I took the seat off and checked it out. Every time I pressed the start button I got a solid click from the starter solenoid, but it still wasnt starting. When I used a multimeter to see the output voltage to the starter from the solenoid it was 0v, or sometimes .1v. When it finally did start after many many tries it jumped to 12.5v which is what should happen every time. There was a decent amount of corroision around the starter solenoid connections so I cleaned all of that off and it seems to have improved the starting.

I guess I will leave the current solenoid on the bike as long as it starts on the first or second push. Once I need to push it 3+ times to get it to start I now know what I need to replace. Thanks so much for the help!!

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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2626 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue Reply #4 - 06/09/20 at 14:10:35 Pushing it more than once is reason enough to swap it. It will wait until you’re 60 miles from home before it never restarts. Seriously, it’s easy and inexpensive to fix. Having to get your bike on a lift truck is expensive and a giant PIA.
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Mysterious Intermittent Starting Issue Reply #5 - 06/09/20 at 14:11:17 Suggest replace now.. You dont know where youll be the day it stops working,,
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